Years ago, one tobacco company advertised its wares with the phrase "Sold American!" Well, I am reminded of that phrase today, when major GOP leaders such as Mitch McConnell and Paul Ryan are calling Trump's statements totally irresponsible and offensive, and yet will still vote for him in the general election.
President Obama joked about Trump being a candidate that the Democrats could love (because he is so bad). And then he talked about the dysfunction in the GOP and about the need for a healthy "right-center" political party to give meaningful, loyal opposition to ideas from his "left-center" party. Again, our president surprises me - he's saying something serious and meaningful, and not lowering himself to the level of his opponents.
Sadly, tribal loyalty is trumping (pardon the word) benign self interest. There were other more reasonable choices throughout recent years, but the GOP has allowed itself to shift to the extreme right. The loyal GOP followers have only themselves to blame for Trump - they voted in liars who never delivered on their promises to the base, and now are voting for Trump because he will upset the elite. If these people had only said - the GOP's policies do not reflect my needs, and then voted in their self interest, none of the clowns who steered the GOP to the hard right would have ever gotten power. And, as a result, moderates would have worked with Democrats and dealt with serious problems. This has not been the case....
Until the GOP base says - let's elect a truth telling moderate, the party will head towards its own destruction. We've see what happened the last time a major American political party fell apart - and I'm afraid history will repeat itself.
The above picture is from the Hagia Sophia in Istanbul - a former church, a former mosque, and now a museum. Istanbul (nee Constantinople) has been at the crossroads of Islam and Christianity for generations, as well as being the crossroads of East and West. And this building reflects the theme of today's post - Islamists vs. Christianists - which group is worse?
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In the past few days, our President has noted the human rights abuses committed by Christians in the past, as well as mentioning that the Crusades were not as holy as we'd like to paint them in the West. Christianists were up in arms, stating that it was Islam that struck the first blow, posting memes across social media to paint Christianity in a defensive light.
At the same time, others have been noting the human rights abuses committed by Muslims in the past (as well as most recent past), mentioning that the expansion of Islam had been one of military conquest - something that many Muslims hated to discuss, as they paint their religion as a peaceful one - ignoring their own history.
As I see it, both sides have committed great evils in the names of their faiths, and have blind spots regarding the history of their faiths. Is there any comparison possible without getting either side angry? I doubt it. Those who need absolute certainty that their faith is correct will try to destroy any evidence, any counter opinion that may suggest that their religion is wrong.
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What we're seeing is a clash of civilizations. It's not the mainstream Christians and Muslims who have learned to live together that are clashing. Instead, it is those groups of people who want to turn back the clock a few hundred years to a time where there was nothing that could pose a challenge to their orthodoxy. And these people ARE the problem.
There is a large number of Muslims who consider any depiction of "the Prophet" to be heresy worth killing someone for. Why? If the word of God that was presented to him is that correct, then wouldn't God take care of justice? Who are they to determine what justice is, when it is only tradition that is responsible for a prohibition against depicting "the Prophet" in any way? Christians have their hot buttons too. I remember a few years back when someone from Africa (if I recall correctly) painted a Madonna like figure with media made from Elephant dung. And the exhibition of this work set off a maelstrom of protests. Can any one person truly harm God if that God is all powerful?
Most modern people, Christian, Jew, and Muslim would look the other way if something were exhibited that offended us. Why doesn't everyone do this? As I see it, people who are alienated from modern society AND who have taken solace in religion need to believe in an "Old Testament-like God" who is ruthless in his punishments, draconian in his justice, and is as dysfunctional as they are. When events do not exhibit the "justice" they crave, they tale law into their own hands, execute that "justice", then say that they were only following God's will. But who are they to say exactly what God's will is? I don't see God coming down from on high to tell me (or others) what his will is. Who are these people to claim it?
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It's about time that the moderates of all faiths take back control of dogma from the extremists, and push the extremists out of civilized society. In the Mid-East, it may involve the use of heavy duty armaments, while in "civilized" nations it may involve curtailing certain rights - with a goal of forcing the extremists to move elsewhere. I have no solutions. I am proposing some thought experiments, as if we don't come up with ideas soon, the plague infecting the "Old World" may metastasize and infect the "New World" in ways we can't handle....
